Secret XMen Arc 1: New Genesis
by Rando Serian
Summary: After falling through the cracks of reality, an alternate version of Moira, a mutant in her world, arrives in the main Marvel universe.  Guided by a mysterious journal and the remnants of the Scarlet Witch's subconscious she forms a team to reverse M-Day.
1. A Savage Awakening

Secret X-Men

Chapter 1:

A Savage Awakening

The Savage Land, well known to the world as a living prehistoric jungle located deep in the heart of Antarctica. A dangerous place for anyone, especially if you're alone, it is the last place on earth one would expect to find anyone on their own, especially a woman laying naked in a pile of clothes. Her name is Moira, and she has been torn from her reality, falling through the cracks of time and space eventually landing in the Savage Land. Her world too had a Savage Land, but she knew that this was not her world.

It hadn't been a short time since she fell from her world, it had been years, however it had been seconds since she fell into this world. In the time between she found herself trapped, a timeless void neither here nor there, now nor then. It was a void that existed further away from reality than the inter-dimensional crystal palace, the Panoptichron, the place that her x-men's one-time allies the Exiles had used as a base. It was in that place that Moira found herself, not aging, not requiring food, drink or rest, just endless nothing.

Were it not for a single companion in that void she would have gone mad, perhaps she was given who the companion was. It was someone that she had known for a long time, a young woman who had been at various points in her life a member of the Brotherhood, the Avengers, and the X-Men. Her name was Wanda, the daughter of the mutant known as Magneto, however despite the fact that she looked and acted like her real friend she claimed that she was just be the subconscious of an alternate Wanda.

Wanda explained that the event that brought Moira to this void was caused by her, in a desperate attempt to prevent a deadly future she had seen coming. Wanda saw that in just a short whiles time an event would occur, causing a civil war amongst those with powers and should mutants have participated it would have greatly diminished the number of heroes. This thinning would leave the world weak to another threat, the return of an enraged Hulk eventually sealed far beneath the sun-baked Nevada desert, which would decimate the heroes of the world further leaving it extremely vulnerable. Vulnerable enough so that a secret invasion of the Earth, by the Skrulls, would be successful, wiping out the rest of humanity. The rise of the Skrulls would eventually free the Hulk, who in turn would wipe out life on Earth, save himself.

Moira could only watch as Wanda showed her what would have happened, and then used her powers to show her what was happening on her world. Moira watched as the civil war of Wanda's world played out differently than it had in Wanda's vision, with very few casualties, allowing Hulk to be stopped before his rampaging became too destructive. This in turn prevented the Skrull invasion from succeeding, and the earlier events eliminated the Hulk's mass extinction, but it in turn, created new, just as disastrous events, ones that never would have occurred otherwise. The birth of the girl that would come to be known as Hope Summers, the destruction of Cooperstown, Selene's undead army, the dark reign of Norman Osborne, Bastion's final plan, and the Siege of Asgard. However as she watched, a single event, the simultaneous activation of five new mutants finally dragged Moira out of the void and into the alternate world.

She arrived, several hundred feet in the air, with nothing to break her fall in the middle of the Savage Land. Acting quickly she caused her clothing to grown in size, large enough to have broken the fall of a bull elephant, however the shock of the fall still knocked her out, causing the clothes to shrink back to normal beneath her. Her impact had not gone unnoticed; predators were drawn to her location rather quickly. Moira was just stirring back to consciousness as the first of the raptors lunged at her, intent on making her its dinner. Moira had no time to react, as the small dinosaur's teeth and claws closed in on her.

"Don't move!" a voice yelled as a pillar of steel in the shape of an arm and fist struck the dinosaur in its face, smashing it's skull in. Looking up Moira watched as the steel retracted back into the arm of a teenager that resembled Colossus. Moira was about to say something but the young man yelled out first, "Ciel! Behind her!" he yelled as blood came spurting up past Moira's eyes.

Turning around she saw a young blonde haired girl wielding a large dagger made of pure bone holding the severed head of a raptor in her other hand. "Looks like we got dinner Petey," she said as she wiped the dagger clean on the ground and stuck it into an animal skin strapped to her ankle, "And we found something interesting." She said as she knelt down to the naked Moira, "So tell me… who are you?" she asked as she looked Moira in the eyes.

"Moira," she said as she looked back without blinking, "I was a member of the X-Men…" she said as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Can you let me get dressed?" she asked as she pointed downwards to bring the fact that the girl was standing on her clothing.

"Oh…" Ciel said noticing that Moira was naked for the first time, "Of course," she said as she took a step backwards off the older woman's clothes.

Moira gathered her clothes, and with the speed of someone with a ton of practice at changing outfits on the fly quickly re-donned her garb. Realizing both of the teenagers had turned around to give her some privacy Moira cleared her throat loudly to regain their attention, "So who are you two anyways?" she asked as they both walked back over to her.

"Name's Ciel," the girl said as she began tying up the raptors she and her companion had killed, "Ciel Lykos." She continued as she tied it to a large branch to make it easier to carry.

"Lykos… as in Karl?" Moira asked as she looked at the young girl, her guard raised.

"Yes," the girl said with a sigh, "My father is Karl Lykos… the being known as Sauron." She said as she gave Moira a harsh look, "But I am not my father, I have neither his power nor his madness," she said as she glared at the X-Man from another world, "I am me, nothing else!" she declared as her eyes seemingly allowing Moira to peer into her soul, and Moira knew she could trust this girl.

"Enough Ciel," the one she had called Petey said as he placed his still armored hand on her shoulder, "I am Peter, my father is one of the X-men as well," he said as he held out his arm to shake hers.

"Let me guess," Moira said as she took his arm, "Your father is Colossus, you have similar powers so it's not hard to figure out" she said with a smile as she shook his arm in friendship.

"Yes," Peter said as slowly the metal began to be drawn downwards into his pores, eventually converging as a hump on his back, his body nearly half a foot shorter that it had been in his armored form "However our powers are not as similar as you think," he said under a pained breath due to the strain of retracting his steel form. "We should leave," Peter said as he grabbed one end of the pole that Ciel had attached the two raptors to, "Come with us to out village," Peter said looking at Moira, "We can talk more there."

"Of course," Moira said as she followed the two Savage Land youths. The three of them walked through the trees, eventually coming upon a small village filled with people, most of them diverting their eyes and attempting to avoid Ciel. The villagers stared in awe as they saw the Scottish woman, clad in what only could be called an X-men uniform. As they walked towards the center of the village, a woman with a large Mohawk walked up to Peter.

"Son," she said as she looked at him, "Who is this you have brought with you?" she asked as she looked at Peter.

"Mother, she's an X-Man," he replied to his mother quietly with a big grin on his face, "As me and Ciel were out patrolling, the two of us came across her lying in the middle of a clearing."

"An X-Man!" Nereel said as she covered her mouth. After restraining herself she walked over to Moira and looked her in the eyes, "Tell me, is Peter here with you?" she asked looking at the Scottish woman hopeful to hear the answer she wanted.

"I'm sorry," Moira said sadly, "I came here alone, the X-Men don't even know I'm here." She said as she turned away from Nereel and saw Ciel sitting alone, the others in the village avoiding her as they had when the entered the village.

"Oh," Nereel said as she closed her eyes, "Why did you come here alone?" she asked not realizing Moira's attention was focused on how the villagers avoided Ciel until after she had asked, "You are curious about Ciel."

"I am," Moira said as she looked at the girl, "I know her father Karl has a dual reputation here in the Savage Land, loved as Karl Lykos but feared as Sauron." She said as she watched the girl, "That doesn't explain why they fear her."

"Ciel," Nereel said as she stood next to Moira, "Ciel used to have power, and her reputation was not that different than her fathers… only in reverse." Nereel said as she looked at the girl sadly, "When she gained her power, she became a monster in appearance, but had no sign of her father's madness. However when she turned back to her human form for the first time, she ravaged the village, killing most of the men. Then one day she lost her power, and the madness went with it."

"It must have been hard on her," Moira said as she watched the girl remove the raptor's scales with her dagger.

"It was," Pete said as he looked up at Moira, "But she helped me when my powers emerged… I owe her my life." He said as he walked away from her and over to Ciel to help out.

"So what did you ask me?" Moira asked as she turned to Nereel.

"What are you doing here in the Savage Land alone?" She asked as the two of them walked to Nereel's hut.

"I'm on a mission…" Moira said as she entered Nereel's dwelling, "One that seems to be a bit harder than I expected."

"Take them," Nereel said suddenly gripping Moira's arm, causing the x-man to look a bit shocked.

"Who?" Moira asked knowing full well in the deep in her mind to those whom Nereel referred.

"Peter, Ciel, take them with you," Nereel said to the X-Man who sat near her, "They belong with the X-Men, both of them do."

"Nereel," Moira said knowing the Savage Land woman from her own universe, "As I told your son, I was an X-Man… but I'm not anymore, I have left them to forge my own team, my own path in order to complete a plan set in motion years ago."

"Then take them for your team," Nereel begged the other world x-man, "They can do so much more for the world by going out into it than staying here. The hatred in Ciel's heart will grow if she remains, and Pete will do anything for her…"

"I'll ask them," Moira said to Nereel as she looked at the woman in understanding, "But it's their choice, not mine."

"Thank you," Nereel said with a smile as Moira headed out of the hut to speak to the two teenagers.

As Moira walked towards the two of them she couldn't help but think of back when she had begged Xavier to help her with her son. At the time she felt like a failure as a mother, however thanks to her time in the void and the images shown to her by the Scarlet Witch she knew that she had made the right decision. Now she was in the same position that Xavier had been in. As she approached the teenagers she cleared her throat to gain their attention, "Peter, Ciel, how would the two of you like to come with me?" she asked as she looked at the two of them.

"You mean as X-Men?" Peter said excited to join the team his father was a member of.

"No… I have left the X-Men for my own reasons…" Moira said in order to calm the teenager down, "So I don't think we should call ourselves X-Men at the moment."

"I'm in," Ciel said as she wiped her dagger clean and sheathed it once again, "Getting away from here seems like a great idea." She said as she held out her hand to Moira, "However, don't expect me to blindly follow orders." Her words created tension that cut through to Moira's very soul in remembrance of what someone else had once told her.

"I go where she goes," Pete said with a smile, "Although I would like to be an X-Man."

"Tell you what Jr." Moira said as she pulled out a map from her pocket, one that had been given to her by Wanda, "If we ever run into the X-Men you can join them if you want." She expected those words to lighten Pete's heart, but all it seem to do was create a conflicting joy in his heart.

"So where are we going?" Ciel asked as she grabbed a rather furry bag hanging on the edge of a hut.

"The Xavier Compound," Moira said as she looked at the map, "It's a secret location hidden deep in the jungle near here." Moira said as she looked at the map trying to deduce their location on the thing. As she stared at the map, the look of confusion on her face must have been profound as Ciel grabbed it from her hands.

"We are here," Ciel said seconds after getting the map, "The location indicated on this map is only about five or six miles from here, it's through a dense jungle but there are no intelligent species living in that forest." She said as she read the map.

"How…" Moira began to ask amazed at the speed and accuracy to which Ciel read the map.

"My mother was a skilled mapmaker," Ciel said without looking up from the map, "Something that is a rather in demand skill in a place like this." She said as she rolled the map up and tucked it in her pack, "We should be able to make it before the horned ones return to the area if we leave soon." She said as she looked at the two of them.

"Well then," Moira said as she motioned for Ciel to take the lead, "Shall we be off?" And with that the trio took their leave of Nereel's village, heading off towards the location indicated on the map. The three hour journey was, thanks to Ciel's skills in the surveying of the area that she learned from her mother, without incident. That is if one overlooks Moira's brief drop into a sinkhole. As they approached the clearing located on the map, the trio saw nothing out of the ordinary, save the bones of a few dinosaurs littered amongst the field.

"Are you sure this is the right location?" Ciel asked as she looked at Moira, "There's nothing here…"

"Did you think a hidden facility would be above ground?" Moira asked rhetorically, "The entrance is around here somewhere." She said as she looked around the area without entering it, "We should move cautiously, there are probably some defense systems around here." She cautioned them as she took the first step into the clearing.

"That's reassuring…" Ciel stated sarcastically as she drew both of her bone daggers.

"That seems like the right idea," Peter said as the liquid organic steel bubbled out through his pores and formed an armored state similar to his father's. As they stepped into the area Peter felt the movement of the ground directly beneath his left foot. He knew he had stepped on some sort of trap. "Hit the ground!" he yelled out as he saw the first turrets rise up out of the ground.

The turrets began to fire almost as soon as they popped up. Peter, having noticed how tired Moira was due to the trek through the jungle, quickly moved into position to defend her from the energy bolts that were being fired at them. Ciel, being fully able to defend herself, weaved in and out, dodging the bolts and rapidly moved in on the turrets. As she struck the first turret, she failed to notice the ground opening beneath her as she fell down, into the ground beneath.

"CIEL!" Peter yelled knowing he couldn't help her without leaving Moira defenseless. Moira would be killed by the bolts if he moved, and something inside him told him that Ciel was fine. The lasers continued to pound them relentlessly, and slowly, even he was beginning to get tired from the slight pain he felt each time they struck. In his mind it seemed like he would have a choice, to save himself or die saving someone he had just met, but then just as he was about to make a decision, the lasers stopped firing.

At the other end of the clearing the ground began to rise, revealing an entrance to the underground facility. From the entryway, a form familiar to Moira began to walk towards them, one that Moira knew from Wanda's images to be dead in this reality… John Proudstar.

"Ruskie!" Proudstar said as he held out his hand, "It's been a while!" he said as he waited for whom he thought was Piotr Rasputin to shake his hand.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken Thunderbird," Moira said as she slowly moved to in front of Peter, "This isn't Piotr… it's his son." She said as she took his hand, "My name is Moira, and you're supposed to be dead." She said as she looked him in the eye.

"Oh, I am dead," Thunderbird said as he looked at Moira, "I just haven't yet." He said with a grin, "So you're Rasputin's kid." He said as he began to walk back to the entryway and motioned for them to follow him.

"Where's Ciel?" Peter asked, anger rising in his voice, as he stopped Thunderbird by grabbing his shoulder.

"Your friend is perfectly safe," Thunderbird said as he moved Peter's armored hand off his shoulder, "At least… I think she's alright…" he said as he began walking again, "She fell into the lower level, I was going to go after her when I saw the image of the intruders, you two, and stopped the defenses." He said as the three of them stepped into the entryway, which began to lower once again, down beneath the Savage Land.

Meanwhile a hundred and ten feet beneath where the lift the trio on which John, Peter, and Moira stood, Ciel began to rouse back to consciousness. She had lost it after hitting the ground and was starting to realize where she was. She had fallen into the very facility they were looking for, but she had landed alone. To the best of her knowledge, Peter and Moira were both still facing the energy bolts above ground.

Climbing to her feet and retrieving her daggers from where they had fallen, Ciel began to scout the area on guard of her surroundings as she did so. The facility was huge, and for all she knew had several layers to it. She had only heard of facilities like this from her father, to her they had always been a sort of fairy tale. The machines looked, to her, like something nobody on the planet was capable of.

As she wandered she came across a container filled with water. Initially shrugging it of she took a closer look after noticing what was inside it out of the corner of her eye. The tank had a young girl, no older than her inside it. Ciel couldn't make out if she was alive or dead and leaned in to get a closer look, accidentally pressing a button on the control panel beside it. As tubes that flowed into the girl's body began to pulsate, feeding some sort of liquid into her body the girl's eyes snapped open.

In an instant a flood of light filled the area, enveloping Ciel. She began to feel a sensation she knew far too well, a sensation she hoped she would never feel again. As the light continued to bombard her, Ciel's body began to transform, her skin becoming scaled with, her eyes becoming like those of a lizard, her hair transforming into light down feathers. The energy continued to permeate into her being transforming her into what she had been before M-Day, before she lost her mutant powers. Ciel knew that the form she considered a curse had returned even without seeing herself.

Trembling as a myriad of emotions flooded her mind Ciel released a loud scream, one that was heard on the level above by Moira, Peter, and John.


	2. The Xavier Facility

Secret X-Men

Chapter 2:

The Xavier Facility

His name is John Proudstar, better known as his nom de guerre Thunderbird. He was supposed to have died on his second mission with the X-Men, while facing Count Nefaria and the Ani-Men at the Valhalla Base in Colorado. This belief was proven inaccurate shortly after Moira had arrived at the Xavier Facility in the Savage Land. Confusingly Thunderbird himself confirmed his own death during the Valhalla Base mission, but contradicted himself by saying he hadn't died yet.

As Moira attempted to wrap her mind around the logical fallacy of Thunderbird's words, her thought process as well as her concentration was broken by the screams of one her newfound companions, Ciel Lykos, coming from the level below. With Thunderbird leading the way, the scientist from an alternate universe alongside her other new companion Peter Rasputin Jr. headed as fast as they could in the direction of Ciel's scream. Upon arrival they found Ciel, transformed into what could only be called a humanoid therapod, more specifically that of a raptor.

Moving past Moira and John, Peter scooped up his friend and carried her, John once again leading the way to a medical unit located in the facility. Moira, however, remained behind, having noticed that the girl in the chamber behind Ciel was no only awake, but seemed to be having some breathing difficulties in the liquid she was immersed in. Acting quickly, Moira opened the pod and unhooked the cables from her body, and began to run down the hall in the direction John and Peter had headed.

'Hold on Eliza,' Moira thought to herself as she carried the girl, 'I'm not going to let you die again.' Her mind raced as she hurried to get the girl to the medical unit.

Upon reaching the medical unit, Moira watched as Peter, having extended the use of his powers long past his capabilities, collapsed after retracting his liquid organic steel. As John tended to the two Savage Land youths, Moira tended to the girl she had pulled from the tube, a girl she knew from her own universe. Neither of them noticed as a skeleton, one that looked as if the entire form was made from brain tissue, floated into the room and landed behind Thunderbird. At least not until it placed its hand on the Apache's shoulders, causing the soldier's instincts to kick in as he threw the skeleton across the room, causing it to smash into dozens of pieces.

"Now that was totally uncalled for," the skull of the skeleton said as it began to telekinetically pull itself back together, "I was just coming to see what all the commotion was."

"What have I told you about sneaking up on me Deadhead!" John roared as he stared the skeleton in the eyes. The commotion from his yelling and Deadhead's bones rattling back together finally snapping Moira out of her complete focus on the young girl named Eliza.

"For the record," A soothing Irish girl's voice came from the doorway, "He did knock…" A woman with pieces of metal sticking every which way out of her body said as she walked into the room, "Is that Eliza!" she yelled as she noticed the young girl Moira was working on. "Move!" She yelled as she knocked the scientist out of the way.

As she moved her hands over the young girl's body, the metal on the Irish woman's body began to rearrange itself forming to focus points. Within seconds small jolts of electricity began to bridge the gap between the metal points on her body and the girl. As the small jolts permeated the girls body slowly her vitals began to stabilize.

"Thank you," Moira said as she turned to the Irish woman.

"Stow it," the Irish woman said as she glared at Moira, "What were you thinking removing Eliza from her tube?" she asked, the seething anger in her voice apparent to all that were awake in the room.

"I didn't have a choice!" Moira yelled, angry that the Irish woman was treating her like an idiot, "She was going to die if I didn't, somebody woke her up before pulling her out, she was starting to seize inside the chamber." Her voice pierced the Irish woman whose face changed from a look of anger to one of someone who felt guilty for doing something stupid.

"I didn't know…" the Irishwoman said as she turned her head from Moira.

"No," Moira said as she calmed down, "You didn't Jen, but you do now." She said with a slight grin.

"How?" The Irishwoman asked as she looked at the Scottish woman.

"I know all about you and JB," Moira said with a soft smile as she looked at the slightly younger woman, "How do you think I found this place?" Moira said as a glint of deception appeared in her eyes for a brief second. A glint that was only noticeable by someone paying attention, someone like Thunderbird, who felt that it in his best interest to not confront her just yet.

"Well," the skeleton, also known as Deadhead, said as he floated over to her, "We still don't know who you are." He said as he held out his hand, "You know who I am, but manners dictate an English gentleman still introduce himself to a lady." He said as the mouth of his skull formed what could be called a smile, "The name's Jerry Bartholomew Winston IV, my friends call me either JB or Deadhead, and as I'm pretty sure you're aware, the woman with the sparkling personality is my wife, Jennelle Conelly-Winston."

"Nice to meet the two of you," Moira said as she took Deadhead's hand, "My name is Moira, and if it's alright with you I'd like to leave it at that." She said as she took a deep breath, "The two teens that are lying on the med tables over there are Peter Rasputin Jr. and Ciel Lykos."

"Why are they out cold?" Jen asked as she looked at the two youngsters lying on the table.

"Peter overexerted himself," Moira said as she looked at the son of Colossus, "As for Ciel, being since by what Peter said, she lost her powers… which could only mean…"

"…Eliza jumpstarted her…" Jen said as she looked over at Eliza, "She must have sensed your companion and reacted subconsciously." Jen said as both her and Moira's eyes lit up.

"Which caused her seizure!" the both said together having reached the same conclusion.

"Great," John said as he rubbed his temples, "Double nerds… just what I need…" he groaned as he began to walk towards the exit, "Deadhead, go make sure Cu is still contained, I need to reactivate the security systems." He said as he left the room.

"Will do chief!" Deadhead said as he raised his hand.

"Just get moving!" John yelled at the british skeleton who, despite floating above the ground, scurried down the hall towards where something or someone named Cu was kept.

"I'll stay here with Moira and keep an eye on these three," Jen yelled out to John and her husband, both of whom probably didn't hear her verbally, but JB did indeed hear her, through a telepathic rapport the two of them shared.

"So," Moira said as she looked over at Jen, "How much do you know about Eliza?" she asked as she looked at the

"Only as much as Nicholas told me and Bart when he brought us here," She said as she looked over at the sleeping girl, "It's hard to believe that chronologically she's older than the rest of us here sometimes."

"I learned about her, this place, as well as the various caretakers that have "worked" here through Nicholas's diaries," Moira said as she pulled a small thumbnail sized book from her pocket and enlarged it.

"Nicholas never forced anyone," Jen said as she turned towards Moira, "We all came for our own reasons to escape, to learn to control our powers, to prevent our powers from hurting anyone else… Nicholas gave us what we wanted, a new life." She said as she looked at her hands.

"I know," Moira said as she looked at her companions resting on the beds nearby, "But I still find it unbelievable that nobody who came here, with the exception of Nicholas himself, ever left after entering the doors."

"173…" Jen said as she looked at her hands, "I killed 173 people when my powers activated, including my entire family, save my husband." She said as she turned towards Moira with tears in her eyes, "And he only survived to his powers!" she yelled as she looked at Moira, "Everyone who came her had their own reason." She said as she calmed down.

"I'm sorry…" Moira started to say, as a large dog phased through the wall nearby and ran right through the next one.

"Cu is loose!" Deadhead's voice came from the hallway as his skeletal form streaked past the entryway.

"What is all the noise," a strange deeper, almost animalistic version of Ciel's voice came from behind the two.

"Ciel!" Moira yelled as she turned around, "You're awake!" she said as she saw the still reptilian humanoid slowly pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Oh," Ciel said as she looked at her hands, "Great… just great… I was hoping that was a dream." She said as she realized that she had indeed been repowered. Inside a well of emotions swelled, but against her stubborn demeanor, none were released. She sat there staring at her hands trying to keep herself from crying, or letting them see the sadness she felt from once again having what she felt to be a curse.

"Jen!" Thunderbird's voice rang out through an intercom system inside the facility, "I need you to report to the first level immediately! I need your help restraining your dog!" the anger in his voice obvious to the three of them, and most definitely to Deadhead who was already after the mutant dog.

"Moira," the Irishwoman said turning to the Scot, "Can you look after Eliza and your friends?"

"Actually I was planning to help you subdue Cu," she said as she looked at Ciel, "I'm pretty sure she can handle watching over the two of them for a bit." Moira stated as she smiled at the savage land girl.

"Of course," Ciel said as she looked at Moira, her eyes lacking any emotion behind them as she tried to bury them deep within herself. Unknown to her Moira was hoping that by leaving Ciel with the two of them alone, she would be able to express her emotions. She was right, as soon as Moira and Jennelle had left… Ciel began to softly cry into her hands.

Heading towards the closest lift to the first level of the facility the duo of Moira and Jennelle ran past a series of tubes similar to the one Eliza had been in. Inside several of the tubes were other people tasked by Nicholas to care for the facility. Moira didn't know the reasons why they had either been put or chosen to enter the stasis chambers; all she knew was that they were in them. In her mind she figured that not even Jennelle knew why all of them were in what Nicholas had called in his journal "Storage. After passing several dozen chambers, they eventually came to the lift.

As the lift rose upwards Jen turned to Moira, "I'm guessing you had a reason for leaving that girl to care for the others?" she asked as they waited for the elevator to reach the upper level.

"She needed time alone," Moira said as she took a deep breath, "I felt this would help her deal with regaining powers she never wanted to begin with."

"Many of us never wanted our powers," Jennelle said as the door opened on the upper level.

As the doors of the lift opened to the security room, it became apparent to the two women why Thunderbird had sounded so angry in his message. The mutant dog, Cu, had torn apart many of the security systems. As they looked around at the devastation the dog had caused, they watched as the beast ran through a wall. As he did so the wall broke apart revealing a room unknown to any of those gathered in the room. The four of them gathered, Thunderbird, Deadhead, Moira, and Jennelle, entered the previously unknown room. As they entered the room they noticed something no other room in the facility seemed to have, large picture windows on which the other side nothing could be seen but the dirt outside.

"Well," John said as he looked at the window, "That's a bit odd for an underground facility…" he said as he touched the glass.

"This room…" Moira said, a state of wonder in her voice, "It isn't mentioned in Nicholas' Journal," she said as she looked at the untouched consoles.

"Bart!" Jen yelled as she stormed up to her husband, "You knew about this room didn't you? What are you playing at?" She said as his skull once again seemed to smile.

"Remember the night Thunderbird arrived?" JB said as his smile grew even wider, "That night I learned more than I thought possible, I just had to wait… wait for the future to arrive." He said as he floated over to a control panel and waved his hand over it, "For the day Eliza would awaken… I knew that on that day this is what I'd do." He said as the control panel began to whir.

"You released Cu on purpose," John said as he glared at the skeleton, "and then you controlled him didn't you?" he yelled as he grabbed Deadhead.

"I did what _**you **_told me to do…" Deadhead said softly to the Apache, who backed off after hearing those words and everything went white.

Down in the medical section Ciel watched as everything went white for a second and then returned to normal. As things returned to normal Ciel noticed that the two that she was watching had awoken.

"Where am I?" The girl asked as she looked at Ciel and then screamed, "What are you?"

"I'm a friend," Ciel said as she tried to calm the girl down, however it soon became apparent that all she was doing was freaking the girl out. Fortunately Peter had awoken and moved over to the girl.

"Calm down," he said as he stared her in the eyes, "Ciel is just as human as you or me, her power causes her to look like a dinosaur."

"Her power…" the girl stated as she began to calm down, "She's been cursed as well?"

"We aren't cursed," Peter said as he caused the organic steel to flow onto his skin in order to prove his point to the girl, "We're mutants, as I assume you are. My name is Peter, my friend is named Ciel." He said as he held out her hand to help her up.

"Eliza," The girl said shakily taking his hand, "My name's Eliza Xavier." She said as she tried to calm herself down, "Can she change form like you?" she asked as she looked at Ciel.

"I'd rather not…" Ciel said as she looked away from the two of them.

"Ciel!" Moira's voice came over the intercom; "If the others are awake could you please come to the upper level…" her voice seemed to trail off as if she had been distracted.

"You heard her," Ciel said as she motioned for the others to follow her, "Let's go."

As she exited the room Peter and Eliza followed. Peter remained in his steel form due to the pain caused when he shifts form. As the headed back to the upper level, Peter leaned in and whispered into Ciel's ear, "How did your powers return?" he asked as he tried to keep his voice low enough that Eliza wouldn't hear.

"Don't know," Ciel said as she kept her mind focused on anything but that, "How do we get up to the upper level?" she asked as the continued to wander down the hall.

"I'll lead the way," Peter said as he led the two girls to what Moira had called a lift. As they rode the lift he couldn't help but feel distant from his childhood friend. She had changed, not just physically because of her powers returning, but emotionally, mentally. It seemed as if she had become another person altogether.

As the lift stopped, they saw Moira waiting for them who motioned for them to follow her. Together the four of them entered the room Deadhead had opened via Cu. As the entered they room they saw the picture window and what was on the other side. Outside the window, where one would expect to see dirt, was an ocean of water. Rushing to the window they saw not just an ocean, but that the facility had become a part of some large superstructure, some sort of underwater city. As they stared in wonder alongside the others a light came from behind them.

"Welcome," a glowing form said as they turned around, "To the Research Colony Arcadia." The form continued as it took on a human female appearance.


End file.
